Senate Dems move to repeal DOMA

Senate Democrats and backers of gay marriage won a key victory Thursday in their quest to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, but it’s unclear where it will go next.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 along party lines in favor for the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would repeal the Clinton-era law that defined marriage between a man and a woman.

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“Because of DOMA, thousands of American families are now being treated unfairly by the federal government,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). “This unfairness must end.”

Committee Republicans, noting that the bill faces bleak prospects for passing the full Congress, said the measure was a waste of time and the matter should be left up to the states. Six states – Iowa, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as the District of Columbia – now recognize gay marriage.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, argued that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would never bring such a controversial bill to the floor, particularly during the 2012 campaign cycle that could determine control of the Senate.

“Were he to schedule a vote on this bill before the next election, he would face a revolution in his own caucus,” Cornyn said of Reid.

Added Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s ranking Republican: “To me, this debate is about stable families, good environments for raising children and religious beliefs.”

“It’s not about discriminating against anyone,” he added.

Feinstein acknowledged after the hearing that she didn’t have the 60 votes needed to override a filibuster on the Senate floor, nor has she spoken to Reid about the bill. But she noted that Thursday’s vote was a “big first step” and shot down the GOP’s notion that some moderate Democrats may be fearful of a vote to repeal DOMA.

“Virtually any advance in civil rights or any kind of rights has been carried by the Democratic Party. It’s just a fact,” she said. “So, we’ll just march on. We’ll continue this. And if I have to reintroduce it next session, I’ll reintroduce it. Session after that, I’ll reintroduce it.”

The bill, if it does ultimately pass the Senate, will almost certainly go nowhere in the Republican-controlled House. Republicans there have repeatedly blasted the Obama administration’s decision in February to stop enforcing DOMA and have lawyered up to defend the law in court.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said this week in an interview with the conservative news website Newsmax that the White House didn’t have the right to pick and choose which laws the administration wanted to enforce.

On Thursday, Grassley also knocked the administration’s decision to no longer defend DOMA, noting that the Justice Department in the 1990s had declared the law constitutional.

“If the law is the same and the Constitution is the same, why is the department’s position different?” he said.

A companion bill in the House, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), has 132 co-sponsors including at least one Republican, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.